Workers at the only Chicago Uncle Julio's location said they were notified the restaurant was closing the day it closed, and many aren't sure what to do.
"I got to look for a job now," Ruby Buendia told NBC Chicago. Buendia was a manager at Uncle Julio's at 855 W. North Ave., but found out along with the rest of her coworkers on Tuesday the restaurant would not reopen.
"I'm a really hard worker," Buendia said. "And for me to work my butt off for this company and to be told the day of, 'Hey, we’re closing it down' ... I felt kind of dumb."
Terminated employees said Uncle Julio's cited rising rent costs as the reason for closure. The six other Illinois locations will remain open. A sign on the door read, "all employees were offered positions elsewhere."
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"They gave us a bid sheet saying to choose our preference of location and choose our hours," said former server and bartender Augustine Casa. "But we won’t be guaranteed full-time."
The next closest location is in Skokie, and the rest are nearly a 45-minute to one-hour drive away from Chicago.
NBC Chicago news crews tried to speak with Director of Operations Shenika Harris on Friday.
"I'm not speaking to anybody, so I'm not making any comments," Harris said. She asked that all vehicles be moved from the parking lot and that former employees and media don't go on the property.
Crews and workers complied, remaining on the sidewalk. Two police squads arrived minutes later to monitor.
On Wednesday, workers in a similar situation at the iconic Signature Room downtown celebrated a lawsuit win against restaurant operators who now have to pay $1.5 million for violating the WARN Act, which requires restaurants to give a 60-day notice of any closing or mass-layoff, or instead provide workers with wages for 60 days after the operation closes.
"The idea is that gives workers time to find another job or have some level of compensation when they're laid off immediately," said Shelly Ruzicka of Arise Chicago, a worker's rights organization.
Ruzicka said there are guidelines to the WARN Act on the state and federal level. Some include applying only if there are 75 or more full time employees laid off. It's unclear how many are affected at Uncle Julio's.
"It's really important to know what your rights are and how to fight back," Ruzicka said.
